marbling

 Making glass marbles would be an absolute hoot, but in keeping with the fiber theme, in April of this year the local fiber guild hosted a marbling workshop. 

 

I had done marbling with kids using liquid starch and acrylic paint [still working out the kinks of how watered down the paint needs to be for it's density to allow it to float rather than sink; I will get back to you on that]. This was next level, professional grade dyes, some water additive that I am forgetting - my brain wants to say some kind of algae - and fabric pretreated with alum, but not the alum you bake with.  

      

Here we are getting our initial instructions. Our flick sticks are plastic/ nylon broom ... I don't know what the word is for them, but they were pulled out of a dollar store broom and bundled. The instructor told us to start with black dye - its there, in the bottom picture, but you may have to look for it. 

With more colors, the black is more visible. The set up is to just flick or drop dye onto the water bath, then use a skewer or comb to pull, swirl, et cetera, designs. It was rather mesmerizing to watch the dyes swirl around with just a little coaxing.

And then we all went nuts.

    

If/ when I do this again, I would have a drying rack situation sorted, as I clearly resorted to sticking bits of fabric wherever I thought air would be able to circulate around them

2022. Not the best year, either

 Wow. 

Didn't realize that it's been at least six months since I sat down with this little crafting accountability blog. 

I was going to cut to the chase and eliminate this section, but someday I'm going to question what was going on, and I'm sure this will help jog my memory. I think I appropriately used a jump break?? I hope so. 

Weather at work

 I started a new job on Monday and we had this storm roll through on August 27th. This shelf cloud was incredible to watch forming!

 

Some sights from Quarantine

These are some photographs, in reverse order, of some of the sights of the COVID quarantine of 2020 in Northwest Pennsylvania. 

October 10, 2020 Day 215

More funny sign at the local bagel place

October 1, 2020 Day 206

The local voldemart is back to allowing people in both doors instead of one entrance and one exit. You still can't get a lot of cleaning supplies.

Quarantine, day 8?

According to my friend who is quarantined in Arlington, VA, it's been over a week now that we've sequestered ourselves in our dwellings and began hoarding toilet paper. Everyone except my family, because we needed to shop on Friday like normal, so we put buying TP off until then, and couldn't find any for a week. My Arlington friend is definitely more extroverted than I am; the only change to my routine is that I don't have to go to work at my GA job; I'm focused on what were already online classes.

Fine people, some of you are not in education. Some of you take vacations this time of year because 'rates are lower', or in the fall after tourist season, or whenever you bloody well please because your vacay time doesn't have to occur within a mandatory window of June, July, and August. With the exception of the one time I went to England in 2008, have not been captain of my own destiny enough to afford to go on a vacation anywhere other than my parent's house. Or the yearly encampments at Old Fort Niagara and Cook's Forest. Not exactly exotic, and always when I already have time off from school. This whole staycation taking place not over a holiday and not in the middle of summer is a revelation.

Holiday vacation is not a vacation. At least if you're the person partly responsible for making holiday festivities happen. It's a time and a half job. Holiday vacations aren't nice. This? Holy cow. THIS IS SO NICE. I HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO NO ONE TO MEET HOLIDAY EXPECTATIONS.

I sort of actually like being outdoors this time of year. Keep your sunscreen, beaches, relative humidity of 99%, and skin cancer. Right now, the outside temperatures are all over the place, 60 and sunny one day, 26 with a wind chill of 15 the next. Welcome to spring in my neck of the woods. But the world is coming alive out there. Our crocuses poked their heads up and have been nodding in the brisk breeze. Buds are preparing to burst on branches; the quince, the sassafras, the flowering almond, those weird bushes on the side of the house that we've never been able to properly identify. On alternate route home from picking up flea medication for the pets, my mother and I saw pussy willows. There's been nothing to stop anyone currently from sitting outside in their yard except the wind chill, which I fully plan to do, with a roaring fire in the brazier. I bought the thing, I may as well get some use out of it if events are going to continue to be canceled. 

While I do have to stay on top of coursework, I have no intention of keeping myself parked in front of a computer terminal just so everything can be turned in ahead of time (though this isn't a terrible idea...) Because of the nature of my GA, I haven't had a proper break, even over Christmas, because we have to come in and work a high vigilance job anyway. And now we don't. Frankly, it's a relief. I don't feel like I'm vibrating or mentally numb anymore. When this whole thing was beginning to blow up, we were told that face-to-face classes would resume April 6th. Now face to face University and ecumenical activities have been canceled indefinitely. I'm okay with this.

Project of the year, 2020

Well, howdy. Its been a while.

I've been pursuing master's degree #2 which hasn't left a lot of time - or let's face it, interest - for writing outside of the academic. But it's winter break now, and I've caught a moment to breathe.

I've been hearing rumblings about the new Pantone color, the latest this, new year's resolutions et cetera, and it made me reflect on the projects I have in progress and the ones I completed.

I actually finished a Dr. #4 scarf! And I gifted it! I have a picture of it done; I'll post it eventually.

I also finished a pair of mittens and a hat which were also gifted. And I knit myself a new hat and cowl set, and a hat to match another cowl. [None of which I have pictures of, of course.]

A little extra space was found to set up the sewing machine, and while I really wanted to start something new [don't we all?] I took a look back and began digging things out that were partially completed. I finished the top of an I Spy throw, and in the process, I ended up donating a 30-gallon trash bag worth of fabric to a charity that makes small lap and lovey blankets for nursing home patients and children in crisis. I could have easily given more; I may yet. I felt such relief in letting it go and knowing that it would be put to use instead of being mouse eaten, dry rotting or molding in storage until I got to it. In this mess of donated fabric, I found a partially completed quilt that had been given to me to finish, one that I knew I never would. It had been given to me by someone parting with their mother's fabric stash. I have already come to a standstill where it comes to buying more fabric to stash. I'm working on not buying any more yarn unless it's to finish a project, which is a hardship given that there's this new, scrummy local yarn shop with fabulous fibers.

All this got me thinking:
Do I really want a legacy of half-finished projects?

That said, my goals for 2020 are to finish some projects that I already have started:

1. Finish hand quilting a utility quilt - confession. I'm not even sure which project I was referring to. Maybe the orange marmalade one? 
2. Bind two matching green quilts - I know exactly where these are. Under a bunch of mask making supplies. 
3. Finish a green 18th-century jacket   Done and done! :D
4. Finish the 18th-century linen gown   Its done! I finished it for a weekend event 10/24/ 2020!
5. Finish the 18th-century worsted wool gown - So. Stinkin'. Close. (I'm not sure when the last update of this was, but now as of 10/30, it's even closer to being done than it was when I last updated this)
6. Find the missing Row By Row from 5 or 6 years ago [whenever the water theme was] Located 3/2020
7. Find the missing Cathedral Windows rag quilt Located! currently working on finishing, 7/2020
8. Find the missing Asian bunny squares  - these have been located! 2/8/2020 (Confession, I started buying fabric to complete this project, after researching what I wanted to do with it)
9. Fix my mouse nibbled hat [this may involve buying fabric!] -  This has ALSO been finished, thanks to a sewing weekend get away with friends! Now it needs to be trimmed, to cover the mouse eaten bits

This ought to keep me plenty busy for the new year.

This post originally published on 12/26/2019, updated 7/28/2020, 10/30/2020

Won't you be my neighbor?

Hello friends in the blogisphere!

As I'm looking at my stats, it says that I first published this blog on June 1st, 2007 [I've been at this 10 years, and I missed my own blogiversary... geesh.]

It seems that someone out there reads my blog, mostly the United States, but shout out to the Germans, French, British and Canadian friends also checking in. So... if you enjoy reading about my mishaps and exploits, would you consider following me? I'm not sure exactly how this works, so I'm afraid I can't explain it to you, but if you are a Real Person and not a robot, I'd love to find out about your blog, too, if you have one.

Thank you for putting up with my long absence, and all the spelling errors. I broke my back February, and I found out I have Lyme disease in March, which really took the strength and energy out of me. I have had Lyme since at least 2013. No bulls eye rash, no sore knees, no fever [I don't get fevers] none of the 'classic' symptoms, and a negative Western Blot, which is fairly common since the test is only 29-40% accurate. I did have flu like symptoms; I couldn't regulate my body temperature to the point I would be wearing a wool sweater, sweatpants and long sleeves in 90F weather, severe fatigue, sleeping 16- 18 hours a day [maybe it's narcolepsy they said] and a stiff, sore neck that caused migraine headaches. Since I have been on antibiotics for the Lyme, I have felt like a new person, like my old self again, ready to take on the world. Of course, sometimes I'm overzealous and over do it and need a nap, but my doctor is pleased with the progress I'm making. [Can we pause for a moment and talk about how hard it is to find a doctor who will even treat Lyme disease?].

I was finally diagnosed by taking a course of antibiotics and paying out of pocket for a urine analysis that was sent to Igenex labs in Palo Alto, California. Best $250 I've ever spent.

Confessions of a broken back

[this post contains no affiliate links, just pictures to help get my point across]
I'm three weeks out from the small miracle of breaking my back in such a way as to be laid up but not paralyzed, have no concern about surgery and like as not to have no further complications. All that is required of me is to recouperate in the next three to four weeks and okay, possibly some physical therapy from doing no bending and twisting. 

If I wasn't living at home with my parents, I'd be sunk. I'm not allowed to bend or twist. I'm not allowed to lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk. 

Getting dressed. That was the first new adventure. Everything I have been wearing has an elasic waist band so it comes on and off easily. I can't get my own socks on- no bending allowed. 

The tasks of independence I didn't expect to fall to the wayside weren't revealed until much later. It wasn't so much the knocked over pens and pencils that I couldn't reach for myself next to the recliner I had encamped in during the day, but larger tasks. Having my laundry put away, so that there was an empty basket for dirty clothes to go into. Having my bed stripped of it's linens on the two week rotation I keep, rotating the blankets and switching the duvet. Being able to wash my own clothing, or at least the specific pieces that have been the most comforting, that were now piling up in front of the closed closet door, creating a safety hazard to someone who already had difficulty walking (read:me). 

When people asked "What can I do?", I had no idea what I was in for. Is asking for a load of laundry too much? Stripping the bed? My foregone conclusion was yes, especially given what a wreck my own bedroom looked like before I got hurt (trying having a cat who thinks he's a trapeze artist bounce around every night and get back to me). Breaking my back in the midst of purging childhood ephemera was not what I had in mind. But there you have it. 

If I lived alone, there would be no question. I would have had to either return to my parents to recouperate to stay at a care facility. Or find someone to stay with me. 

As I read back on this, it sounds as though my parents aren't taking care of my needs - not true. They are however, adults with their own lives, and they have rearranged their schedules to accommodate this hiccough. 

The further out from this I am, I really wish someone would have told me [sooner] that I'd really want to be taking a stool softener AND a laxative. I could barely sit, let alone think about passing gas.

That I could make my own sock-putter-on-er with a pop bottle and a bit of rope - because no one sent me home with adaptive equipment the way they do when you have a knee replaced.

That I would really, really want a shower chair. We have a hand held shower sprayer, but having one with an adjustable bar would have answered the "Now where do I put this so it doesn't soak the bathroom?" question

That there are better places to buy a back brace than Volde-mart... its just a matter of how long do you want to wait for it to come in the mail since, again, one was not provided.

That it could take six months - a full six months - to feel like myself again, even though the bones had healed.

A little canvas house

I very much enjoy reenacting, but this summer has been a bad one for migraines. There is an event 20 minutes from my house that wiped me out to set up a (brand new!) tent for, but for which I'm grateful to be able to have a tent to be laying down in. If any of that makes sense. 

I had a migraine and a rebound last week, leaving me in a brain fog and completely wiped out this week. I'm finally feeling like I can do things again, but I have to take frequent breaks. Especially in the heat. There are a lot of people here this weekend, and I am tired out after a few social interactions. It's like being at school, but worse, because there's *really* no break. there's no set start or set end. No schedule. No lunch break, no pee break, no one agreeing with you that someone was out of line, no boundaries. Total free for all. People letting their dogs jump on you. People poking their head inside your tent when you are trying to take a nap, even when it is tied shut. 

I'm laying down trying to catch my breath before the heat of the day. Stashed with me is my chair that someone sat in and broke- instead not sitting in, or picking it up to move it so they could see what they wanted to look at, they sat down and torqued it into the ground as hey twisted it to the side, snapping the top rail in half. Thanks. This is why we can't have nice things. This is why baby bison die. Its not yours. Don't touch it. Or maybe ask first...? 

certification lines in the sand

recipricocity of teaching certificates

The things one discovers when one is applying for out of state jobs... Aparently, my certification is good everywhere except the state of Indiana. Live and learn. I'm curious to know why, since PA has one of, if not the most rigorous licencure programs in the country. Was there something we missed?

(Almost) 20 things to do while active monitoring

Talk about the state tests is revving up. Test day is looming on the horizon.

Active monitoring is becoming the byword in all faculty lunchrooms. No zoning out, checking messages on a phone, grading papers... Just walking around a room. Watching students take a test. In point of fact, it's a reportable offense to even have your phone vibrate while giving the test. All phones are supposed to be off and making no noise. Whatsoever.

In the spirit of active monitoring, and making no noise whatsoever while walking around the room watching students take tests… And also, in all honesty, the spirit of fun I give you… Not even remotely close to 20 things to do while active monitoring.

1. Imagine who you would be friends with, if you were this age, at this school. 

2. Imagine what each student would be if they were an animal. Not based on personality, but physical features. 

3. Most classrooms have teacher assigned student  jobs. Imagine this group of students got stranded on a desert island... Now instead of paper passer or lunch count, what kinds of jobs would be handed out? Ie: shelter builder, firewood collector, hunter, resident artist...

4. Think about compelling answers to 'would you rather...?' questions, such as:

Would you rather change gender every time you sneezed OR not be able to tell the difference between a muffin and a baby?

5. wear a pedomiter. better still, make it a contest among others also actively monitoring - how many steps can you log walking around the classroom? Winner gets --- and bragging rights.

6. Take your pulse before and after thinking about the most annoying person you know. See if it changes.

7. Look at the items in the room and think about how you might use them in the event of a zombie apocalypse

8. Buy three different flavors of gum. Time them to see which looses flavor fastest.

9. There is a school-wide hide and seek contest with a $1,000,000 cash prize. Think about where on-campus you would hide.

10. ... you could always use this time to whiten your teeth with whitening strips

11. a parade has just burst into the room with all of your favorite animals, people, etc! What animals are in this parade? what song is playing? who isn't there? Are they throwing candy? what kind?

Happy, healthy test taking to you.

Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance

If only ... I can't read minds. If only I could. [Okay, maybe selectively... all those sci-fi shows where the person who can read minds but can't turn the ability off and has to live alone, in the middle of nowhere. Not worth it.]

I had a conversation with someone on support staff this week who was asking me about sub folders and I laughed and told her I'd seen everything from soup to nuts. The binders with literally nothing; I should have known about the allergy in the room from something other than the allergy alert bracelet around the kid's wrist, no roster, no seating chart, no classroom schedule, no specials schedule, no bell schedule, no school schedule, no I-have-bus-or-time-out-duty schedule... the binders that should have been bronzed and held up as an example - yes, please! do this! because even within the district it was different from elementry school to elementry school. In a world where everyone wants everything to have some kind of standard to hold everything else up to, the last thing that comes standard is the expectations - and the instructions and information - one teacher leaves for the guest in their classroom. However capable or inept that person may or may not be.

So I found this little gem. And I heaved a sigh. No, it's absolutely right. I don't need to know someone's life story that I do not interact with 7.5 hours a day, 5 days a week with for 37ish weeks. But it's nice to know about allergies, and to go to the nurse to learn to use the EpiPen. NOW. Don't open that vaugely labeled granola bar here. You can't drink your coffee unless that's non-dairy creamer. Hope you didn't spill any.

But... on the off chance it's a kid's birthday, is it okay that I get the birthday stuff from your closet/desk/whatever -  or don't? Because you want catch up with them when you get back? How am I supposed to know any of this? If you care - or don't? You didn't say - it's seemingly minutia, but people keep all kinds of things all kinds of places. I will not rummage in someone else's room because I don't know what I'm going to find. Not everyone labels a drawer CONFIDENTIAL. I'm smart enough to stay out of that. I also won't just walk into someone's room when they're not there and I'm a floater [no one place to be for the day]. Then you get the "Why are you in my room? Who are you? I'm calling security" questions before you can flash a smile and calm someone down. If I learned anything in 6 months it's that some teachers can get incredibly territorial about their room. Especially their desk. So you wait for them to come back first, and enter with permission. [Walking in and finding the regular teacher there, even if you're supposed to be in that room, is always fun, too. Especially when neither of you have any idea who each other are.]

Don't sweat it, I'm over planning. Get what you can get to. This is enough, but on the off chance you finish early... please. Tell me right off. I can't read your mind. The other teachers say, eh, it's okay, we didn't lose anyone today, but sometimes I wonder how okay it really is. You may feel like you're repeating yourself saying again and again "I'm over planning" everytime someone walks through your door. But I don't want to mess up. I know I messed up when I came back for you, uninvited, and the first thing you wrote was, "Please, don't try to cram in everything like last time. I'm overplanning." Thank you for telling me though. Because the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly, getting the same results, but expecting a different outcome.

Sometimes I think people see the sub tag and they think I've been there - or maybe at least subbing - forever. So I fumble, from tiny faux pas to Oh. No. She. Didn't. and it's God, there's another awful sub. Can't we do better than this? (Am I making this up? Sometimes I feel like I must be making up the words in my head... like the title of that book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? [And Other Concerns] )

The two things I think I would add as musts to this list are the phone numbers to the office and the nurse. Seriously. Kid goes down, you don't want to wait sending a runner, and if you don't know there's a panic button in the room, it doesn't do you any good. Kid has a melt down, I want to know how to reach the principal - or at the very least the secretary, who can tell the principal that someone's coming down, so look out for them.  Rookie mistake number one. Not knowing, or having someplace easy at hand, the office phone number.

New Year Card

I lost the Christmas cards. But from the tips of my red and green fuzzy slipper socks to the crown of my newly shorn head I wish you a happy new year.

I don't know what I'm going to do with all these little slips of paper. Some of them my students gave me when I was student teaching, the simple love of a six or seven year old expressed in a blank slip of paper printed with hearts, or cut in the shape of a fairy or a ballet slipper. It was strangely not cathartic, upending the jar and emptying the contents to make room for this year's crop of missives. My trending for being thankful was heaviest on things working out, things working out with good people, and being greatful for good people. In fact, that pretty well sums the whole jar up.

Here's to another year of things working out and good people. And the two things together. Cheers to all the good people in my life, and the ones I get to meet this year.

American Family.

We've had rather an epidemic of a childhood virus in the area; I guess it's just a bad year for it. In any case, in an effort to stem the spread of said nuisance virus, a childcare facility I work for has been sterilizing and cleaning toys any time we get wind of a confirmed case in one of our children [at least parents are reporting]. We haven't solved the problem of how to replace any of the soft dolls yet - they dissapeared in the first round of deep cleaning [I'm for going to IKEA and getting a soft toy, and seeing how it holds up in the washing machine with a broad-spec germicide...] Anyway, while you're sending all the toys through a commercial dishwasher, you notice things like the people in the doll house. Especially after a child says "Why mommy have no pants?" About that.
 

So this week, the kids wanted to know where mommy went. I [okay, a lot of the workers and volunteers] had a problem with mommy not having any pants. Mommy went to the "spa" for the weekend and will be coming back to the fam with some new duds. One of our childcare workers trolls local second hand shops specifically for pieces that go with our dollhouse, so thanks to her, not only is the house fabulously furnished and accessorized with every piece of furniture imaginable, but we also now have the people that go with the doll house. We started out with one childless, single person [I can't remember if it was mom or dad] who was blessed with a spouse, much to the joy of the children, who kept asking where on Earth the actual family was that went with the doll house - not much of a doll house without people, right? And there's no fooling a three/four year old. They know which people go with which toy. And then one day, in a new bag of accessories, there arrived not just Pink baby, not just Blue baby, but their stereotype defying sibling Yellow baby. The family more than doubled over night. Yippie-skippy [surprise, mom]. And then an uncle and cousin showed up, so any interested child has some person [that actually goes with the house!] to play with now. Oh, the stories you hear being made up about the family in that doll house. Priceless.

Thankful

I can hear you groaning right now- God, not another one. Anything but another one. So let me first put it out there right now that I am not one of those going shopping on Thanksgiving or Black Friday. Period, end of story. I just spent the day being grateful for a day off, for the family that's still alive and well, for the things I have. And now I'm going to go out and trample someone for more stuff? Huh?

Last year, and I'm not even sure why we were down here, but in anycase my family and I had Thanksgiving in none of our usual places. And our hosts completely blindsided [at least] me by asking us to share around the table what we were thankful for that year. I'd have been okay with this if I had some warning. Perhaps, you know, a week ahead of time. "Oh, come on, it's not that hard to think of something you are grateful for,"

The statement "I'm grateful my family didn't kill each other this year." or "We were able to co-exist in general peace and concord." is not something you share with the class. In fact, these are the responses that get you a fast track referral to the guidance office. So while I was scrambling to think of something, I resolved to come up with a solution to handle this problem next year. I would show forth evidence of gratitude. Or at least not sit and stare blankly with what sounded like a flippant response.

To my credit, 2012 had been a little rough. I thought "surviving this year" was a fair statement to make. But alas, it was disqualified. I started a gratitude jar on New Years. I would have evidence of gratitude.

I figured I would start small. Once a week in January, drop a slip of paper with something on it I was thankful for that had happened. And I jumped into student teaching.

So. Some high lights from the jar. Because as we know, we don't argue with what comes out of the jar.

My appendix didn't rupture.
I got my masters. 

Hanging out at the zoo with 1sties. 

Positive feedback - "hey there stranger, thought that was you. haven't see you around the building - are you getting work?"

Taking myself out for lunch. 

Friendly faces. 

sub bag.

Wow, okay. It's been a busy couple of weeks. I never thought I would invest in a paper planner in my life ever again. Until I did. I can hear my mother doing the "I-told-you-so" song and dance...
In my last post, I mentioned that I kept a dedicated sub bag. And that I kept some things in it.

Cuppow coffee jar, planner, box of tissues, ice bag [i get migraines] wet wipes. I heard there were saline wipes, and I've been trying to find those, since they would do what I want the wet wipes to do, without being baby scented. Filler paper [handy for attencance in upper levels, scratch/assignments in lower levels] post-it notes, a folder with my own run-off sub note forms, and a children's book. First aid kit-in-a-bag for the body [the help packets have 8 doses of something in a blister pack, and the packaging is recyclable/biodegradable], techie kit with charger, cables, thumb drive [loaded with PDF copies of all current clearnces - this has saved my life] and a cleaning cloth. I bring my own pens and pencils. And a highlighter, scissors and a pack of 24 crayons - I found the really good ones for a $1 brand new. Obviously I keep a water bottle with me - migraines, have to stay hydrated. The bottle and jar come out of the bag to be cleaned, but the rest stays in. The bag itself was a gift from my cooperating teacher and class. It was made by Thirty-One and has 7 exerior pockets. It holds everything listed above, plus a packed lunch [depending on the bag lunch is in]


Everything stocking the bag is brand new, however, I did not pay full price for it. Except the Cuppow lid. And the pens. Those pens never go on sale. Recently, I also started tossing in an ID/change purse that holds hair ties and quarters. Some of the schools have soda machines that are increadibly inexpenstive. Or there's an older student who went out of their way to meaningfully participate and they had a box of chocolate with them to raise money for a trip... so I've been known to support a cause. Miss O likes chocolate...

Quilt Company East show, 2013

quilter happy hour.